Michigan State Basketball: Good, great, bad, and ugly from home win over Rutgers

Michigan State basketball gets needed win against Rutgers. Let’s take a look at the good, great, bad and ugly from the win.

Michigan State basketball is not making it easy on itself this season. That much is clear by the Spartans’ 10-7 record, and 2-4 mark in conference play. They did, however, get an important win against the Scarlet Knights on Sunday, 73-55. After a back and forth first half thanks to below average offense by the Spartans, Michigan State used stellar defense and multiple offensive runs to pull away from Rutgers, eventually opening up a 21-point lead and finishing with an 18-point victory. 

A second half that was much cleaner from an offensive standpoint allowed MSU to break the lead changes and pull ahead for good.

Let’s take a look at the good, great, bad, and ugly from the Spartans’ second conference win. 

Good: Offensive runs

As just mentioned, the first half from Michigan State was somewhat spotty from the get-go. Some first half turnovers (more on that later), and so-so offensive sets kept this game closer than it should have been. As the turnovers were cleaned up, however, Michigan State got hot from three, and capitalized on second chance points to sustain multiple offensive runs. Most notably came after Rutgers took a one point lead early into the second half. MSU went on a 15-0 run to essentially put the game out of reach for the Scarlet Knights. 

Malik Hall was fantastic throughout these offensive runs, finishing with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Tre Holloman, Tyson Walker, and Jaden Akins all hit three threes apiece, and Michigan State finished the day shooting 48 percent from deep. It’s runs like these that truly break the will of your opponent and put the game on ice. While this type of offense has been hit or miss for the Spartans, we know it’s there and is possible.

Michigan State basketball just cannot let it be dormant for entire games if it is to right this Big Ten ship. 

Great: Defense

If the offense for MSU was sub-par in the first half against Rutgers, the defense was not. Michigan State’s defense on Sunday was excellent. The Scarlet Knights don’t boast the most efficient offense, but Michigan State did not even give them a chance to get going at the Breslin. As MSU began to pull out offensive runs, their defense simultaneously kept Rutgers from scoring for multiple prolonged timeframes. During the second half, Michigan State’s defense held Rutgers without a field goal for almost seven full minutes. 

Michigan State is 6-0 this season when holding opponents under 60 points. Even more, MSU is 9-0 when holding opponents under 70. So the recipe is clear, defense like Michigan State played on Sunday wins them games.

As the Big Ten season continues, that should be the No. 1 area of focus moving forward. 

Bad: First half turnovers

Michigan State is 8-3 this season when it wins the turnover battle. On Sunday afternoon, MSU started the game fairly carelessly with the ball. Over the first 20 minutes, Michigan State committed seven turnovers, three from Hoggard, two from Akins, and one from multiple other Spartans. Those seven turnovers led to eight points for a Rutgers offense that is extremely inept, keeping this game close. If Michigan State would have continued its turnover woes into the second half, it likely would have surpassed their average per game of 10.8. Luckily for the Spartans, they took focus and began to truly take care of the rock, only having two turnovers in the second half.

Tre Holloman is largely to thank for this as he is currently leading the nation in turnover-assists ratio. 

Still, this game was much closer than the final score indicated thanks to Michigan State committing some strange, unnecessary turnovers in the first half. Against a top-tier offense, it’s likely these turnovers would have led to a larger deficit, and the Spartans may not have been able to crawl out of it. They will have to continue their second half play on Thursday when Minnesota comes to the Breslin.

Ugly: Nothing ugly, just a Steven Izzo appreciation post

The main issue for Michigan State on Sunday against Rutgers was its first half turnovers. After cleaning them up into the second half, Michigan State played extremely well. Additionally, all MSU articles coming out of Sunday’s game are required to mention Steven Izzo and the scoring of his first points, so here is the perfect chance to. If you’ve seen even one blowout at the Breslin, you know that the Izzone chants for Tom Izzo’s son, Steven Izzo, with 2-3 minutes remaining. If the score allows, Steven normally subs in and everyone is at the edge of their seat to see if the 5-foot-8 walk-on will score his first career points. Finally, after five years and 43 appearances, Steven did it, and the crowd went crazy.

Little Izzo crossed up his defender, made a move towards the baseline, drew the foul and still got a high arching shot up. The shot fell for an and-one and the entire MSU bench flooded the court. It was a great scene for MSU and the Izzo family. Tom and Steven embraced after the free throws, both of whom looked emotional in that moment. 

After the game, Tom said of his players, “I love the fact that my players were probably more excited than I was.”

In a year that definitely has not gone as most Michigan State basketball fans, and especially Tom Izzo, had expected, this was an incredibly cool moment.